Print Settings

More Options

To choose from sizes beyond the most popular ones, click the More Options button.

Vellum will display the full set of trim sizes available in Vellum, grouped into two tabs: US/UK and International.

Inside Margin

Your book’s Inside Margin should be large enough that text closest to the spine remains visible. A book with more pages will typically require a larger Inside Margin.

For most trim sizes, Vellum’s default of 0.875 inches will work well. For larger trim sizes, we recommend bumping up to 1 inch. To encourage this, Vellum will reset the Inside Margin to this default any time you change trim size.

Outside Margin

Vellum will automatically set Outside Margin to a value recommended for your chosen trim size. To provide your own value, press the Customize button found to the right of the AUTO indicator.

To return to Vellum’s automatic value, press the Reset button.

Note: Outside Margin will reset to an automatic value any time you change trim size.

Text Adjustments

When you select a trim size, Vellum automatically configures the font size and line spacing for your book. You can use Text Adjustment controls to make minor adjustments.

These controls will reset to the recommended value (in the middle) whenever you change trim size.

Font Size Details

Vellum automatically sets a font size based on your selected trim size and uses perceptual font sizing for a consistent appearance across font families.

You can see details about this sizing by pressing the button found next to the Font Size slider:

For a 5 × 8 book, the actual size for Athelas begins at 10.5 pt. But because this font is larger than most, it will have a perceptual size of 11 pt.

Specific values will change based on the selected trim size, font, and any manual adjustments you make in Print Settings.

Chapter Begin

Vellum will ensure the First chapter begins on the right-hand side (or recto) of your book. Change this setting if you’d like Vellum to do the same for Every chapter.

Page Numbering

Most English-language books begin numbering pages at the First Chapter (or Prologue if there is one). If an element like an Introduction comes before this, its pages will use Roman numerals (i, ii, iii).

Books in other languages sometimes start numbering with the Initial Page of the book. Select this option to number accordingly.

Images

Choose whether images in your print edition should be in Black & White or in Color.

Printing a book in color will also require selecting options at your chosen print-on-demand service. Color printing will typically increase printing costs (sometimes substantially).

Bleed

If your book contains Full Beed content — such as a Heading Background or a Full Page Image — Vellum will automatically add a bleed region to your generated PDF. This region ensures that your artwork reaches the edge of the page after it is trimmed.

By default, Vellum will use a bleed region of 0.125 inches on the outside edges of each page, as required by KDP and IngramSpark.

If you use a different print service, you can configure the bleed region using one of these options:

Bleed	Edges		Services
0.125 in		Outside	IngramSpark, KDP
0.125 in		All	Lulu
3 mm		All	BookVault, Tolino
5 mm		All	BoD, Tredition